Some of this has a date. Most of it can wait.
A free dashboard for the year after a loss. The dates that follow — last joint return, survivor benefit, inherited account clock — on one line, in order, with the rule behind each. Eight questions, no account.
Estimates are enough. Nothing here asks you to decide anything today. You pay nothing.
What changes financially after a spouse dies?
Several rules change on fixed dates. Joint filing ends after the year of the death. Two Social Security benefits become one: the survivor keeps the larger. An inherited retirement account has its own clock. A required withdrawal for the year of the death may still be owed. The dashboard puts these on one line for your situation, in order, with the rule behind each.
You never needed to know these rules. Now there are dates on them.
Now the paperwork arrives addressed to one person, some of it with deadlines, and everyone who explains it explains one piece. This puts what has a date in order and leaves the rest for later.
“Nobody warned me the taxes would change.”
Filing as one person moves the same income into different brackets. The first return after the change is where most people find out.
“Is there a deadline I’m missing?”
A few things do have dates: the last joint return, a required withdrawal for the year of the death, an inherited account’s clock. Most things don’t.
“Which benefit do I keep?”
Two Social Security benefits become one. Which one, and from when, is set by rules — not by whoever answers the phone.
“I can’t think clearly right now, and this needs thinking.”
That is why the dashboard asks for estimates, shows what’s assumed, and lets you come back to it. Nothing is scored.
“We never needed an advisor.”
Many couples didn’t. If you want a person to walk through it, the picture you build here goes with you — and only if you ask.
“Everyone explains one piece.”
The bank explains the account. The agency explains the benefit. The accountant explains the return. None of them puts the pieces on one line.
What has a date, in order. And what can wait.
The dashboard starts with the dates that follow a loss, then the rest of your picture, at your pace.
The dates that follow, on one line.
The last year you can file jointly, when a survivor benefit can start, an inherited account’s clock, this year’s required withdrawal if one is owed — each with the rule behind it.
What changes on the return.
How much more tax a year filed as one person comes to, from the first year it is more than nothing, in today’s dollars, with the assumptions shown.
The first ninety days, settled one at a time.
What has a deadline in the first ninety days and what does not. Progress is stated — "4 of 6 settled" — never scored.
Your own picture, when you are ready.
Your dates, your money, how long it lasts, what needs attention — the same dashboard everyone has, built for one person now.
“A pile of letters, each from someone who explains one piece, and a feeling that a date is slipping.”
One line, in order, with the rule behind each date — and the rest left for later.
How it treats you
- No countdowns, no alarms, no scores
- Estimates are enough; "I don’t know" is an answer
- The event is asked about once, as a date
- A person is available if you want one — never required
Three steps. At your own pace.
Answer eight questions, one of them when it happened.
Date of birth, filing status, state, income, savings, spending — and the month of the loss. Estimates are fine. No account.
01See what has a date, in order.
Last joint return, survivor benefit, inherited account, required withdrawal — on your line with the rule behind each.
02Come back when you are ready.
Settle one item, change one answer, or just look. The screen waits for you.
03Here is what the screen holds.
Illustrative example: a widowed household, born 1958, in Ohio, the loss in the spring. Dates are set by law and your dates of birth; the figures on your own dashboard come from your answers.
Everyone explains one piece.
Keep them all. The dashboard is where their pieces go on one line.
Everyone explains one piece.
Keep them all. The dashboard is where their pieces go on one line.
Explains the benefit. Not the return, not the account.
The benefit, the return and the account on one line, in date order.
Sees the change at the next filing — after the year is over.
Shows the filing-status change before it lands, with the assumptions.
Explains its own account’s rules.
Puts the account’s clock next to the others.
Generic, undated, and written for everyone.
Your dates, from your answers, with what’s settled and what isn’t.
Mean well; know a different set of rules, from a different year.
The current rule, with its source named — something you can show them.
A blank-form meeting at the hardest time.
Optional, later, with a picture already built — only if you ask.
The dashboard is free
You never owe Frank Finly anything. The dashboard, the dates, the picture — yours to keep.
01Advisors pay for introductions
If you want a person to walk through it, advisors in our network pay Frank Finly for the introduction — only when you ask. Advisors may charge their own fees for their services.
02No account, no email required
Your answers are saved in this browser. If you want them on another device, add an email and we will keep them for you. Nothing else is needed.
03What’s the catch? None.
The dashboard is free for you. Advisors in our network pay Frank Finly for introductions — only when you ask for one. You never owe us anything.
We put the dates in order. You decide when to look.
Each person who explains one rule does not know the others. The dashboard places the dates that follow on one line for your situation, with the rule behind each. It does not rush you.
The rules are quoted, not paraphrased.
Every age, threshold and deadline comes from current IRS and Social Security rules, with the tax year named next to the figure.
It shows what applies, not what to do.
Frank Finly is not a registered investment adviser and does not give personal advice. The dashboard shows what the rules do to your dates. When a decision needs a person, the brief you have built goes to a licensed fiduciary — only if you ask.
Your answers are yours.
They stay on this device unless you add an email to keep them. Nothing goes to any firm unless you ask to talk to an advisor; then your brief goes to one firm, and we email you its name.
Filing as one instead of two
Illustrative example
The Widow’s Tax Penalty explained →What the rules say. In order.
Four reads that match the dates on your line.
Questions? Answers.
See what has a date. Leave the rest for later.
Eight questions, one of them when it happened. No account. The dates that follow, in order, with the rule behind each one.
See what has a date→